Home Office

Visas: Peru

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer byBaroness Williams of Trafford on 16 November (HL Deb, col 1272), when were visa requirements for visitors to the UK from Peru last reviewed; and what criteria will be used to decide whether further review is required.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The UK keeps its visa system under regular review. Decisions on changes are always taken in the round and reflect key facets of the bilateral relationship with the country concerned. These will vary globally, but often include security, compliance, returns, and prosperity.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Human Rights: Standards

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the report by the World Benchmarking Alliance 2020 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, published on 16 November; and what steps they plan to take, if any, to address the findings of that report.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government welcomes the fourth iteration of Corporate Human Rights Benchmark report. It is disappointing to see that only a minority of companies demonstrate a willingness to take human rights seriously and go beyond creating policies and commitments, to taking practical steps in addressing human rights violations.The UK Government is already taking action to advance this agenda, ensuring that companies comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UK Government has also been a founding supporter of the World Benchmarking Alliance and continues to support their work.

Overseas Aid: Health Services

Baroness Sheehan: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many disease-specific programmes they have (1) reduced, and (2) cancelled, as a result of the reduction of the foreign aid budget by £2.9 billion announced in July.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Difficult decisions have been necessary to identify the savings required. The First Secretary chaired a review process across government looking at all strands of the ODA budget ensuring support for five ODA priorities; bottom billion poverty reduction, climate change, girls' education, COVID-19 and Britain as a force for good. The national statistic reporting on ODA spending (Statistics for International Development) published in 2021 will provide a full breakdown of the UK's ODA spend for 2020.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: Japan

Baroness Kidron: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will permit onward data transfers of UK personal data under Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross-Border Privacy Rules.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: The UK is committed to maintaining high standards of protection for personal data, including when it is transferred across borders. Data provisions in Free Trade Agreements including the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are separate but complementary to the UK’s adequacy process and international data protection frameworks. Through CEPA, we have agreed to avoid unjustified restrictions on the free flow of data between the UK and Japan, and committed to maintaining a legal framework that provides for the protection of personal information. CEPA only addresses data flows between the UK and Japan and does not address onward transfers to other jurisdictions. The UK has not endorsed the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross Border Privacy Rules System (APEC CBPR).

Australia: China

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they plan to taketo assist Australian exports to the UK, in the light of the government of China's introduction of tariffs on Australiangoods in response to the latter's call for an independent inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: Australia is one of our closest allies trading partners – our trading relationship is worth £16.4bn in goods and services (Q2 2019 – Q2 2020). To further improve this key relationship, we are currently negotiating an ambitious and modern Free Trade Agreement. We are monitoring closely the reports of trade restrictions for Australian goods exports to China.